Hmmmmm...

[The Wise Monkey]

I recently bought a 7900 GTX card off ebay, which I thought was a pretty good deal. Anywho, I got it home yesterday, re-arranged all my components so it would fit, then booted it up.

After installing the latest drivers, everything appeared pretty good. Then I decided to run 3DMark06 (demo version).

I got a score of 1586.

Let me put this into perspective: according to the online results, people with similar systems to mine should be getting 7k+.

Here are my specs:
E6750
2GB Corsair 6400
250GB WD SATA2
480W Antec PSU
Gainward 7900GTX 512

The only potential weak link in this is the PSU - could this have such an adverse affect on graphics performance?

[Jamie Nixx]

480w isn't sufficient for a PC of that calibre, but i don't really think that would have that kind of effect.

I would get a new PSU soon, not because i think thats the problem, because you really should have 600w, you know me and me love of power ;)

3Dmark06 is a poor indicator of performance, or i have found in my opinion.

Run Fraps to see how many FPS you are getting in highly intensive games, and let that be your indicator of performance.

A lot of people chat a load of bull about those benchmarking programs and thier 'so called' results.

[The Wise Monkey]

It could be because I recently replaced almost all of my components but did nothing to Windows. :)

I've created a new partition on my HD with a fresh install, and I'm going to try that out and see how it copes.

[Jamie Nixx]

Now i come to think of it WM, i might be your PSU.

A low wattage PSU can cause bad 3D performance, and that is a beast of a card you have there.

If you can i would check it out with a 600w and see what happens.

[The Wise Monkey]

Yeah, I will probably buy a new PSU - can get a good deal at my local store i.e. Hiper 580W for about £45. :)

[Jamie Nixx]

I got mine for free :D ;)

Its a shame about the Hipers because you need to find one at the right time, prime example, last year the Hiper type R was £55 and now its £80 and even £100 i have seen them go for.

[The Wise Monkey]

'tis indeed shocking.

Right, just installed new PSU, going to run 3dmark and install CSS to see how it performs. :)

[Jamie Nixx]

Fingers crossed it brings your marks up :D

[The Wise Monkey]

Well, just played CSS for the first time in a while, and it ran at about 170 fps with everything on full, which is always a good sign. :D

I still don't know if it was the PSU or not, but installing a new one seems to have fixed the problem...weird. :\

[Rob]

Very interesting. Thanks for keeping us updated!

[Jamie Nixx]

Its not that weird really, 480w and you have a 7900GTX 512 and thats an uber power hog.

Tell us how you get along with 3dMark06 :D

[The Wise Monkey]

Now, the fresh version of windows loads up and then crashes before I can do anything... :(

I don't think is to do with the graphics card though, more to do with a program installed afterwards - will have to go via safe mode and uninstall it.

[Jamie Nixx]

Windows can be a jarr sometimes.

Let us know how you get on, still want to see those benchmarking results btw :D

[The Wise Monkey]

Well, I think I may have found a problem...

According to the 3DMark06 SystemInfo, which is usually pretty accurate, the VGA Core Clock of my card is... 8.9 MHz. :eek:

It should be 650 MHz... :/

[Jamie Nixx]

:eek: :eek: What the heck :eek: :eek:

[The Wise Monkey]

Yeah, I thought so too.

Downloaded nTune, o/c my gpu to 680/875, just in the process of stressing it out now - seeme to peak at 70C, which is pretty good on stock cooling.

Gonna run ATITool and 3DMark06 now to see whats what. :)

[The Wise Monkey]

Ok, latest 3DMark06 score is 6573 @ 1280x1024, which is much more respectable.

Now to run Bioshock and see how it copes.

EDIT: It works! :D :D :D :D

[Jamie Nixx]

What Rig are you running, i have bits and pieces but don't know the full spec.

Btw i just ran 3DMark06 and got 8947 :D

*EDIT* What a wally i forgot your first post HAHA

[The Wise Monkey]

lols

Just tweaking the BIOS now to get a bit better performance - at 3.04 GHz at the moment, dunno if I can be bothered to try and get more out of it.

The problem I am having is getting better memory timings - stuck at 5,5,5,18 at the moment, according to CPU-Z. Just doing some research about my mobo and RAM, and I should be able to get it down to 4-4-4-12. :)

EDIT: Now up to 3.2 GHz, 4-4-4-12 timings, running sweet. :D

I found out that Gigabyte hide some of the more advanced settings by default, so had to enable them before I could access the memory timings.

[The Wise Monkey]

Ok, my full specs are now as follows:

Thermaltake Tsunami Dream Case
Gigabyte P35C-DSR3 Motherboard
Intel E6750 @ 3.2 GHz
Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C4 XMS-2 @ 4-4-4-12
Gainward Geforce 7900 GTX 512MB @ 680-875
Hiper HPU-4M580 580W PSU
SoundBlaster Audigy 4 Pro
WD 250GB SATAII HD

Oh yes. :)

[Jamie Nixx]

Sweet rig.

I reckon though that if you had been using a board with an nvidia chipset you would have got higher in 3DMark06, i don't really like the Intel chipset.

So far on the SLi review, i hate to admit it but, i don't remember SLi being this good, i am kind of shocked.

Its still not worth it to buy two cards, but i got another Gainward 7900GS on ebay, brand new for £50, when in my local shop it is £150 :eek: some bargain eh.

My full review of SLi will be here next week but a little taster....

Far Cry on Full everything including full AA at 1440x900.

1X 7900GS i was getting between 40 and 79 FPS on fraps
7900GS SLi i was getting 140 and 178 peak FPS on fraps

With one 7900GS i was getting just over 6000 on 3DMark06, with SLi enabled i got just under 9000.

SLi is still a big con, but i have been surprised, look out for my review, i am going to spend the whole weekend on it :eek: :D

[The Wise Monkey]

I suppose that if you can get a good deal on ebay, say, then SLI might be worth the money.

[Jamie Nixx]

That was my thoughts exactly, if you get it cheap second hand its worth it, but to buy two of the same card new, i think you would have to be mad.

[The Wise Monkey]

Ok, I'm sorted now - rolled back the drivers I was using (the new nvidia beta drivers for Bioshock) and now I get 300 fps in CSS and run Bioshock incredibly well. :D

[Jamie Nixx]

Wicked :D

Just about to download Bioshock off Steam :cool: